Roman Josi returned to his hometown of Bern Switzerland in an emotional win over SC Bern.
The Nashville Predators faced off in an exhibition game against SC Bern for Nashville's last preseason game before the regular season begins in Prague on Friday. It was a night that Roman Josi and fellow Swiss Nino Niederreiter likely had circled on their calendars as soon as the game was announced by the NHL.
While this game was packed with emotion and plenty of good will, it was also a working 60 minutes for head coach John Hynes as he used this game for a final look at players and line combinations. Kevin Lankinen got the start in net for the Preds, and Kiefer Sherwood slotted in on the second line with Ryan Johansen and Nino Niederreiter. Eeli Tolvanen, Cody Glass, and Cole Smith anchored the team on the fourth line.
Game Recap
The atmosphere was electric in PostFinance Arena, and the heightened energy carried all the way through the game. Early in the first period, Nashville gave Bern two power play chances, and Sven Baertschi scored on the second man advantage to put Bern up 1-0. As a testament to fate's love of hockey, Roman Josi score Nashville's first goal at 17:53 in front of his hometown crowd. Bern's Romain Loeffel answered back on an odd man rush with just :09 seconds remaining. The first period ended with Bern up 2-1.
Nashville went back to the penalty box early in the second period as both Carrier and Josi took turns in the sin bin, but the Preds killed both penalties. Filip Forsberg tied the game at 6:24 with a net front backhand goal, and Matt Duchene gave Nashville their first lead of the evening with a power play goal at 8:03. The period ended with four on four play as Bern's Ramon Untersander and Roman Josi were each penalized for holding. The Preds headed to the locker room with a 3-2 lead after two.
Both teams had scoring opportunities on the remaining four on four to start the third period, but neither team took advantage of the extra available ice. Nashville killed off the rest of Josi's holding penalty, and the teams returned to full strength. Making amends for his earlier wrongdoing, Josi scored from the left circle at 5:56. Lauzon headed to the penalty box with 5:24 remaining in the game for a tripping mishap, but Nashville's penalty kill looked sharp once again. With less than a minute to go, Bern pulled their goaltender and scored with :13 left. The Preds held on to win this exhibition game 4-3.
Game Notes
John Hynes has his work cut out for him when it comes to finalizing a fourth line.
Eeli Tolvanen, Cody Glass, and Cole Smith played hard when their line jumped on the ice. Tolvanen created some solid scoring chances but still didn't find the back of the net. It will be interesting to see if Tolvanen's lack of offensive finish overshadows an otherwise well rounded preseason performance. Cody Glass used these sixty minutes in Switzerland to prove he is ready for regular NHL minutes. Cole Smith had a solid performance as well. Hynes has several viable combinations he could use for a fourth line - a good problem to have.
Forsberg and Duchene look regular season ready.
The only thing harder than having a career year is having back to back career years. Of course, preseason can't predict if Forsberg or Duchene will chase or break the relatively fresh goals in a single season franchise record, but both look poised to play at the same high level in which they operated in 2021-2022.
Sherwood looked good with Niederreiter and Johansen, but Tomasino is still the likely starter on the second line in the regular season.
Phil Tomasino was a healthy scratch for today's game, leading to some speculation that Tomasino's second line time is not set in stone. Sherwood had another solid game in Tomasino's place, a strong exclamation mark on a standout preseason performance for #44. Hynes may have used that second line spot to get a final look at an extra fourth line possibility. Nashville fans will be waiting for the final word on the second line combination before Friday's regular season opener against the San Jose Sharks. It would be surprising to see Tomasino start the season on the fourth line, but Sherwood played well with the two veterans tonight.
Nashville will wrap up their time in Bern and head to Prague, Czech Republic where they will open regular season play against the San Jose Sharks on Friday.